AN:- Okay so I know I said I was going to take a break...

Chapter One: I'm Waiting

"That can't have been easy."

"You were watching the feed?"

"Of course."

Shepard eased herself down into the co-pilot seat. "Then yeah. You know."

"Why… er." Joker cleared his throat and opened up the navigation menu. "Why'd you leave it there?"

"Found Pressly's log. He talked about the crew of course. How he changed his mind. How he went from suspicion to trust." She shrugged. "Just felt right."

"So where to next?"

"Well Liara's waiting for me on Ilium."

"Ah. Finally time to sort that mess out?"

Shepard nodded. "All this time I thought she didn't care, turns out Cerberus was just holding my mail for me."

"Shit. That's just sad."

She frowned at him and he mimed reading a letter. "I can just see TIM reading all your letters. 'Hmm, looks like she's waiting on delivery of an X-Station 5 within five to ten working days. Put that in the file!'" He actually did a pretty good impression.

"Oh come on Joker you know better than that." She got out of her chair and winked at him. "The X-Station 6 was released a month ago."

"Ha. See you Commander."

She wandered back through the hall, unzipping the heavy atmo-suit she had been wearing. There had been no need to wear armour to the planet, and since her armour was still mostly in a state of 'bent beyond all possible use or repair' she relished the opportunity to do a good old fashioned I&E for once. Investigate and Explore had been one of her favourite courses in Officer Training, though mostly because it showed her where the best make-out spots were.

Not much chance of that on Alchera. She nodded to Garrus, who was manning the Yeoman station while Miranda took some downtime. He was still using a cane to get around; although she had a feeling it was now more an affectation than a necessity.

She was considering getting him a top hat.

She headed down to the crew quarters next, knowing that Miranda would still be awake. Despite the fact she had no reports to write anymore she still seemed to find something to keep her up. Shepard wondered whether it had anything to do with her genetic upgrades. Her own cybernetic upgrades meant she never needed more than four hours, although it was only recently she'd started getting even that.

She knocked on the door and sure enough it cycled open to reveal Miranda sitting at the chair by the window, a knife in one hand and her Cerberus jumpsuit in the other.

"Something I can help you with?" She asked as Shepard came in.

"Just doing my usual check-up." She gestured to the jumpsuit. "Something I can help you with?"

Miranda turned the suit over to reveal the Cerberus logo, half cut away from the fabric. "A little cosmetic work."

Shepard sat in the chair opposite. "And a knife was the best way to do that?"

"Well I used the solvent unsealer for the first one but it didn't have the same feel to it." She gestured to the bed where another three jumpsuits had been idly tossed, their badges removed somewhat raggedly by the knife. "I can sort out the edges later."

"You can sew?"

"So many things you still don't know about me Commander." Miranda gave her a raised eyebrow. "I told you my education was thorough."

"I have no doubt." Shepard grinned and stood again. "I'll leave you to it. Never did get the hang of sewing myself."

"From the way you handle a blade that does not surprise me."

That caught her off guard yet again. "You know how to sword fight?"

"Thorough Shepard." She looked up from her work with a half-smile quirking her lips. "Very thorough."

Her next stop was Jack, still stuck in the med bay while Mordin and Chakwas worked to get hold of the prosthetics that would enable her to walk again. Since she was practically spitting fire from spending so long cooped up and unable to walk Shepard had made it a priority. Part of the reason for stopping on Ilium was to get in contact with some of the asari genetechs. There was also a branch of Seraphtech on Ilium that Chakwas had been speaking to about a spinal impant.

"How's it going today Jack?"

"Same as it was yesterday Shepard, and the day before, and every damn day since I got myself shot by a fucking asshole."

"Chakwas tells me you should have recovered some sensitivity by now."

"Oh yeah. I keep getting itches and cramps and I can't move my legs to get rid of them. It's just great being able to feel the useless things, that helps sooooo much."

"At least you're doing better than yesterday." Shepard gave a pointed look to the dark grey smudge on the wall next to her where she had thrown a table against it the day before.

"Yeah yesterday was pretty bad."

"You wanna talk yet?"

Jack shrugged. "Not much to talk about. Samara died, then Thane. And I still see it when I go to sleep." She laid her head back on her pillows. "Do you know how many people I've killed Shepard?"

"I'm going to guess hundreds?"

"Probably. I don't even know the exact number. I can remember all of them, if I want to. But I've never seen them in my dreams."

"There's a difference between killing someone and someone choosing to die for you."

"He said he wasn't dying for me."

"Let me guess. He said something about already being dead and how he was just a tool or an instrument or something?"

Jack's smile was faint. "He said his soul was already saved. I had to do the same for mine."

"Yeah that sounds like Thane."

"Problem is I don't know how."

"Honestly I can't help you with that Jack." She rested a hand lightly on Jack's arm. "But give it time. Keep looking."

"Thanks Commander."

"No problem."

Heading back out into the mess hall brought her face to mask with Tali, who was digging some food out of the cupboards. She looked as Shepard approached. "Good to see you Commander."

"And you Tali." She leaned over the countertop to watch as Tali sorted out her meal. "You looking forward to getting back to the Migrant Fleet?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh." Shepard frowned. "Sorry, I just thought. I didn't know if you'd want to stay with us."

"I am still welcome to?"

"Of course." Shepard quickly skirted round the counter and sat next to her. "I'd be a pretty stupid captain to give up the best engineer around."

"Well, captain. I think I gave you my answer a while ago. Tali'Zorah vas Normandy remember?"

Shepard grinned and butted their heads together. "I remember."

They stood and Tali headed to the table. "So are we going to see Liara again?"

"That's the plan."

"Could I come with you? I haven't seen her since I left for the Migrant Fleet."

"Of course Tali. Just… be prepared alright? She's not quite the same as she used to be."

/|\

That was an understatement, Shepard couldn't help but think two days later as they stood in front of Liara's desk at parade rest, arms behind their backs and feet apart. She had brought Garrus as well, hoping that maybe the familiarity of her old companions would put Liara at ease. But she still maintained the aloof and business-like air she had had during their last meeting.

She tried not to let it worry her. Liara's letter to her had been a lot more candid about her feelings. It was still difficult to adjust to the idea of a life so hemmed in by surveillance from every side, but Shepard at least understood now a little better than last time. The realisation of just how much TIM had been keeping from her had been a wake-up call.

"I suppose congratulations are in order," Liara said. "The Collector base has been destroyed and the human colonies are safe. What can I do for you today?"

"I have some information I was hoping to pass on to you." Shepard brought out the hard-data disk Miranda had worked up for her, burning a lot of her remaining Cerberus bridges to get it. She hadn't seemed too torn up about it.

Liara masked her confusion well, but Shepard knew her well enough to see the slightest furrowing of her brow as she accepted the disk and loaded it into her omni-tool. "Let me see what you've got. It looks like a leaked transmission between Shadow Broker operatives." Understanding began to show on her face but it was quickly replaced by concern "It's about Feron, he's still alive."

She bolted from her chair, slipping the disk into a container and beginning to pack up her desk.

"Wait, who's Feron?"

"He was a friend. He helped me recover your body from the Shadow Broker."

"Why did the Shadow Broker want my corpse?" She knew most of what had happened after Cerberus got hold of her, but the intervening few months were slightly more difficult to account for.

"He was going to sell you to the Collectors, but Feron and I stopped him. Feron sacrificed himself to save me."

"So if you rescued me then how did I end up with Cerberus?"

"Well…" Liara paused in her packing and reflexively balled her fists. "They gave me intel to help recover you. They actually put Feron with me in the first place. After I got out, I gave you to them. They… said they could bring you back." She went back to packing, stuffing documents and disks into the case.

Shepard understood that worry. Liara had to have wondered for two years whether she had done the right thing, especially when she had showed up with a Cerberus logo in place. "You kept me out the Collector's hands. Without you I couldn't have come back. Thank you."

"You don't know what that means to me Shepard. I didn't know who you'd be if you came back. If you'd feel…" And the walls came down immediately. It wasn't just about surveillance; Shepard was convinced of that now. It was specifically to do with their relationship. "They brought you back and now they've giving me a chance to find Feron. After two years, I hadn't even dreamed…"

"Sounds like you and Feron were close." She heard the hurt in her own voice, and knew that Liara would as well. Can't expect her to stay loyal Shep. You were dead and all.

Liara smiled. "It's funny. He betrayed me more than once. He was double dealing for Cerberus, for the Shadow Broker. But in the end he sacrificed himself for me. I owe him."

"Well any friend of yours is a friend of mine. What's our next step?"

"I…" She had finished packing, and now held the case close to her chest. "I don't know. I need to prepare, to think. I'm going home. Use my terminal if you need any local intel."

"You okay?"

The smile was gone, replaced by a hard look Shepard had never seen before. "I've spent two years plotting revenge, now I have the chance to make it a rescue."

"Let me help. I'll come by your apartment."

"Yes." Liara checked the time. "Give me a couple of hours. Hopefully I'll have a plan by then." She paused in the doorway. "Thank you Shepard." And she was gone.

"Well that went well."

"She didn't even say hello." Tali sounded like she was pouting.

Garrus shrugged. "I don't think she would be able to talk freely here, even if she wanted to."

"Let's not speculate on her motives until we have more to go on." Shepard ignored the terminal. "There's plenty of things we can do instead. I need to make some calls to prosthetic companies for Jack anyway."

One of the benefits of having quit Cerberus was that the Alliance had finally claimed responsibility for her again, even if they were insinuating quite hard that it had been on their orders that she destroyed the Collector base. She let them have their public relations fun. She had been used to score political points before and would probably be used that way again. Just as long as she didn't have to play the game herself she found little point worrying about it.

The upshot of all the news bulletins and media wrangling was that Seraphtech were more than happy to have all of their latest in spinal treatment technology sent over to the Normandy right away. Anything to help a hero who had helped stop colony attacks. Shepard turned down the offer for a company physician to go as well though. Jack was only just getting used to Chakwas and Mordin, bringing another doctor into the mix would never end well.

The time passed quickly enough for her, and Tali was delighted to find a quarian working for them as well, doing basic machinery repairs. Garrus was most interested in their ocular implants and shoulder-braces.

They headed for the cab rank. The driver was clearly unsure about taking a cab load of fully armed soldiers but a large sum of money changed his mind quickly enough. Night was beginning to fall over Ilium as they wove their way through the heavy traffic. The nightlife of the planet came highly recommended, but Shepard didn't envy the people trying to drive through it.

She knew something was wrong from the moment the cab pulled up. Several police cars were parked out front, and in one of the apartments she could see a dozen figures moving around waving omni-tools at everything.

She raced from the cab, taking the stairs three at a time until she got to Liara's door, where a bored looking asari held up a hand to keep her out.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"This area is sealed off. Please step back ma'am."

"Sealed off? Why?" She could see one police officer crouched down near the desk, but couldn't make out what he was examining.

"Someone tried to kill your friend Commander Shepard." She looked up to see another asari, older than the police officer and with dark face markings around her eyes and forehead. She wasn't wearing any sort of official uniform, but her armour looked expensive. "Thank you officer, your people are dismissed."

The cop was clearly shocked at the dismissal. "You can't do that."

"Already done."

Her tone and harsh stare would brook no argument. The cop stuck her jaw out, then signalled her men. They marched out past Shepard and her squad, muttering darkly about jurisdiction.

Once the last of them was gone the asari's glare turned to a smile. "Tela Vasir, Special Tactics and Recon."

Shepard returned the smile even as her danger senses went into high alert. "A Spectre."

"I heard your status was reinstated. Good. You're one of our most famous operatives. Might even get you to sign my chest plate." Shepard thought she might have been coming on to her, in which case she was badly mistaken. Interesting to see though. "So, I assume you had business with your friend this evening Commander?"

"We had arranged a meeting." She didn't want to give anything away. Whatever Liara was or wasn't into, if there was a Spectre sniffing around she was in danger. And something about Tela's arrival and casual greeting had put her on edge.

"I can imagine." Tela held up a data pad. "The Shadow Broker? That's a dangerous enemy to have."

"Liara was expecting me. She might have left a message here." She definitely did, but if I can find it before you…

"Her office wasn't safe?" Before Shepard could answer she pushed away from the desk and continued talking. "I'm not surprised. Ilium is just Omega with expensive shoes. I haven't found anything useful for tracking her down yet. You knew T'soni better than I do, where would she have hidden her backups?"

Shepard nodded to Garrus, and Tali, who moved out to search the apartment. Shepard took a moment to take it all in, her eyes lighting on a number of promising leads. On the wall to her right was an oil painting of Ilos. Across from the door Liara's doctorate, framed and mounted. By the entertainment system Shepard could see several OSDs and a box for Navy & Garnet: Clan Gulley Archives. Clearly Liara had been halfway through a serious binge.

"I'm going to check upstairs," she said, thinking it was more likely Liara kept well hidden things closer to her living quarters. She climbed the stairs with Tela right behind her.

The bedroom was covered in hard copy paper and datapads. Shepard knelt to examine some of the paper, wondering why Liara had chosen it. As she turned it over in her hands to reveal handwritten navigation data she realised it had been for security purposes. It was a lot harder to hack a sheaf of carbon.

Liara's bed was unmade and a complete mess, more datapads, one of which looked like it had been cracked from someone lying on it, possibly while she slept. Shepard smiled at the image of Liara curled up, surrounded by her data pads.

"Any of this could give us a hint."

"No. Liara wouldn't leave it out, whatever it was."

She opened up the bedside drawers, searching for something she recognised. The bottom drawer only held nightclothes, neatly folded. The top drawer had trinkets, including a soft plush figure of a human Shepard had once bought Liara as a gift. She had a matching asari plush figure held in a storage unit at Arcturus. Under the toy was a small silver metal tube about the length of Shepard's finger. She went to examine it and almost immediately recognised what it was.

She hurriedly replaced the plush and shut the drawer.

"Found anything?"

"Nope. Nuh uh." She took a breath. "Just some personal effects."

"And you're sure she would have left something?"

Shepard looked to the top of the bedside unit, where a picture of the old Normandy had been set. She reached for it, smiling. "Yeah, I'm sure." She touched the frame and the picture changed inside it, showing an image of Prothean ruins.

Tela Vasir saw the change. "It must be keyed to your id. Clever. What does it show now?"

"It's a Prothean dig site. Liara dig leave a message."

"There are a few Prothean looking objects around the apartment. Let's see what we can find."

There were half a dozen Prothean looking objects in Liara's bedroom alone, all hidden behind glass display cases. This must have taken her a fortune to collect. She examined one piece, recognising the shapes and patterns Liara had used to enthuse about. She certainly hoped finding the information didn't rely on her recognising a specific piece of Prothean artwork, she had never been able to get quite so enthusiastic about it as Liara had.

None of the pieces upstairs seemed to reveal anything, and nothing buzzed or hummed or clicked when she got near them. She went downstairs, wondering if she would have to perform some sort of action in front of the cases. Liara had always teased her about her dancing.

She approached on of the display cases, opposite painting of Ilos, and heard a faint whirring sound. She stepped closer and it intensified, then a moment later a small tray popped out, bearing a flat, grey circular device with a red light blinking on and off.

"You found something?" Vasir swooped it up before Shepard could say anything. "Backup disk, let's try it on her terminal." She took it over to the desk and loaded it into the computer without another word. Garrus and Tali came over to join them, Garrus shooting Shepard a meaningful look.

She signalled wait. Whatever Vasir's game was, she wasn't likely to stand up against all three of them, four if Liara was around.

"It looks like she recorded a call."

Vasir stepped back from the terminal as on the monitor above them a salarian's image manifested.

"What have you got me Sekat?" Definitely Liara's voice. It didn't sound like she was using any sort of program to hide her voice.

"It was tricky but you paid for the best. I can narrow it down to a cluster, maybe even a system." She must have been working on the data Shepard had given her. She knew it had included some navigational data.

"How soon can you have it?"

"Shouldn't take long, come to my office. Baria Frontiers in the Dracon Trade Centre. Gotta say though T'soni, you're making me a little nervous. How big is the trouble that could come out of this?"

"Relax Sekat, I'll see you in a few hours."

"This data must be important." Garrus was playing along with Shepard, pretending they had no knowledge of Liara's antics. "The Shadow Broker's people already tried to kill her once."

"I know where the Dracon Trade Centre is. My car's outside."

Shepard put on her best 'meet the public' smile. "Let's go."

AN:- Bit more humour in this one. I like using the DLC stuff to take a break from the whole 'galaxy ending quest' storyline.

The X-Station is obviously a console, and obviously takes its name from the XBox and the PlayStation.

There's a couple of meme images of Garrus in a top hat and monocle, also Wrex. I thought it would be fun to throw in a reference to them. Obviously his knee got busted during the Collector attack so he's using a cane while he heals. It just seemed to really fit his personality.

A thing that will become apparent is that injuries are going to start lasting. People are going to have significant losses in Mass Effect 3, limbs, crippling. They may still get replacements or prosthetics but no one's coming through without scars. This is obviously starting with Jack. Seraphtech is on the Mass Effect fanfiction wiki as a manufacturer of synthetic limb replacements.

I don't like that Shepard immediately trusts Tela Vasir. From the first second she arrived I was practically screaming 'trap!' Shepard's not an idiot. Even if she doesn't suspect Tela of working for the Shadow Broker then a Spectre looking into Liara's life is suspicious, and has to be about more than just an attempt on her life.

And of course a slightly rude joke/insert from me. When I finally write Liara and Shepard's reunion it's gonna be interesting.